bunny confusion...

ok. i know you are all just dying to hear how our easter was. this was the first year zoe could walk to the eggs at the egg hunts. saturday morning we had our church egg hunt... at a brisk 42 degrees, she had to wear a sweater over her bubble suit and sweats under it. yes- the cute bubble suit that i spent 2 hours making was basically covered up to keep her from becoming a popsicle. but, she had fun putting eggs in her basket. that evening, we dyed eggs. she loved doing this too. she would drop the eggs from about 5 inches in the air, into the cup of dye and it would splash all over the table. (we are going to buy color safe bleach after her nap in hopes that the dye comes out of her egg dying clothes.) the next morning, we woke up to see what the bunny left. and to everyone's surprise, he left a chocolate bunny (what bunny doesn't leave a chocolate bunny?) well, our child is very maternal. instead of eating the rabbit, she pointed out his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. then she proceeded to take the bunny, place him in the baby stroller, and push him around the den. she referred to the bunny as "baby" for the rest of the morning. she still has not eaten the ears!ok, so we are off to church... in the nice smocked dress and bonnet i made (spent hours on). she of course wore tights under it and a sweater over it so no one got to see the cute little smocked sleeves. after a few pictures, my mom gives her a RED jelly bean and she drooled red jelly bean juice on the white sweater. yeah for zoe, now her sweater is ruined and service hasn't even started. thanks mom! oh well- the joys of having a cute little girl on easter sunday with a mouth full of jelly beans. by the way, did i mention i wore a white suit and was holding her at the time she drooled? oh yeah, it got all over my pants too! she and her cousin were sweet in their outfits though. after church, we had lunch at nana and gps (my parents). they were able to hunt for more eggs. it was quite a show. we finished watching the masters (i.e. took a cat nap) and then came home. i guess this weekend wore her out!

spring fever...

this morning, as i was driving to go clean a girl's house, i got behind a laidlaw school bus. for those of you who do not know, laidlaw drives the city school children. i was trapped behind this bus for about 7 minutes on a one lane street at a stop light with no turn lane in rush hour traffic. why did i choose to fight this traffic, who knows. i actually like to go early to clean this girl's house so i can return home in time for zoe's little nap. back to the story about being behind the bus. there were a couple of children who had already been picked up, and as cool children do, decided to ride at the back of the bus. one child was standing between the back seat and the window/back of the bus by the emergency door. as unsafe as that spot may have been, this did not bother me nearly as much as the child that should have been in the seat across from him. at 8 am, this child was bouncing with energy as he jumped back and forth in the middle of the aisle, getting in the other child's face, holding on and swinging from the emergency door, etc. he was not in his seat. it took all i had (the teacher in me) to NOT put my car in park (holding up rush hour traffic even more) make my way to the door of the bus, ask permission to get on and put those children in their place by telling them the dangers of standing in the aisle, jumping and carrying and on while the bus was in motion, etc. what a distraction to the bus driver (obviously this was a driver who only cared about payday and not the safety of children)! i would have loved to taken away that child's recess, given him the bus rules to write 100 times, or something to that effect. however, i refrained, stayed in my car, and thought to myself, my child will a. never go to a city school (even though i did for 5 years as a child) and b. will never ride the bus (probably since she will ride with me to the school where i teach). that is besides the point though. it is no wonder why we hear about bus accidents all the time. with undisciplined drivers, accidents are bound to happen because of distractions from little johnny's jumping in the back of the bus. "back in the day" my aunt (who is a school bus driver in chattanooga) would have slammed on the brakes and tossed little johnny to the front of the bus. legally, she can no longer do that, but if she could, i bet he would think twice about acting out in the back again. ahhh! spring is definitely here, teachers, hold on to the reigns until may 25th!

middle of stage rd.

i just wanted to share with the blog world what my mom and i did sunday. we took my precious little 17 month old daughter and dressed her in her fabulous (handmade by me) easter dress and placed her in the middle of stage road to take a few cute pictures of her with the gorgeous tulips. i will admit at first she was a teensy bit scared of the 6 lanes of cars speeding past us, but after a few minutes of reassurance, she gladly stood with the tulips in awe. it was fun for her to watch the cars and smell the flowers. i recommend y'all take advantage of the beautiful scenery before they die. tulips don't last long.

this last picture was actually in the trees by a walgreens. don't you love the blooming plants in spring!!

giant tampons

is it just me or has anyone else visited the wolfchase mall lately and thought there were giant tampons at the entrance? i would have a picture posted for all to agree with me, but there were several male workers standing around them and i didn't want them to think i was photographing them. please, someone tell me you know what i am talking about!

the neighbors...

i love our neighborhood. i love our neighbors. daily, we play outside together, monthly we have dinner parties together, we watch after each others children, etc. our neighborhood is culturally diverse. our diversity made a great "around the world" dinner thing we did last summer. each month we honored a different family and their ethnicity by eating their cultural food. we started with the "american"/"all white" family. they had "ears and beers" (the ears were corn on the cob). at that party, we planned what weekend worked best with everyone for the rest of the parties... one neighbor is a policeman and his schedule is constantly changing. over the course of five months, we had "middle eastern" night with our single guy neighbor. we had "filipino night" at our house (because of my husbands heritage). we had "mexican night" at the house where the hubby is from new mexico. we had "soul food night" at the the black people (african american) house across the street. we ALL get along GREAT! i say all of this to preface my story today. last may, one of our families that we were great friends with (who hosted many game night parties) moved to southaven, ms. they sold their house to a couple that was about to get married. color shouldn't matter, but for the sake of stating it, they were black. i have no problem obviously with color because our neighborhood is so diverse. we also have a chinese family that plays outside with us a lot (and ping pong in our garage a lot). they were not included in our around the world cooking though because it is rumor that they eat the pets in their garage (birds, rabbits, etc)... needless to say we were afraid of them to cook! back to the story. folks moved out in may, new folks moved in and got married in sept. it was obvious when they moved in that they didn't associate much with "white people." how could we tell? they rarely spoke when we said hello, they didn't attend the "welcome to our neighborhood" party that we had FOR THEM, etc. the female is a cop and last summer, whenever we smelled WEED and announced it out loud, they would close their garage because they knew they had been caught. we never actually confronted them, we just knew it. anyways, since the weather has gotten nicer, and we have been playing outside a lot more, we have noticed lots of different cars in and out of that house. we have noticed a young guy walking a pit bull, we have noticed that we don't recognize the people coming and going or parking in the garage. last week, they left the garage door open all day (by mistake). when the guy got home, a neighbor and i walked over to inform him. he acted as if it was his home, so i asked where the other two people (the owners) were. he said they moved out TWO MONTHS ago. ok. wait a minute. i live next door to these people. one of the other girl neighbors and myself are the nosey neighbors that know everything going on in our little section of the street. how in tarnations do you miss people moving out next door?!? so, i prod. "oh really! we never saw a for sale sign in the yard or anything." new guy (who looks 17) says in his best african language that i had to concentrate hard to understand, " we kinda just took over where they left off." how do you do that is what was going through my mind. he let us know that he and his girlfriend (the girls pregnant sister) and their other little girl were living there. i replied, "oh, so are they still married?" he was quiet and didn't say much. we later found out that original guy that lived there had d.v. (domestic violence) charges against him. wheels are still turning about what happened to original owners. we knew they had a hard time getting financed to begin with, they didn't live there long, and they surely couldn't get approved for another house or even an apt. could they? so where are they now? and who the heck are these new people with the pit bull (that is half of the time not on a leash and he pooped smack dab in the middle of my front yard two days ago)??? when my husband spoke to him (you know the "hey, how you doing?" kind of talk), he got in the car and looked at me and said. "ok, the old people were ghetto, but these people are ghetto ghetto!" don't believe me, here is a picture of new guys ride...

i guess it is time for us to start thinking about moving before people think we live in

hickory hill.

getting measured...

well, my birthday is coming up. my mom asked what i would like. i thought about it for a while and then i said i would like go get measured and know exactly what size these knockers are since the life was sucked out of them after a year of breast feeding. so, yesterday, after she left work, she came by, picked me up and we went to victorias secret. as soon as we walked in, the little girl at the door asked if she could help us and i informed her i was here to see what size bra would contain these babies. she asked if i prefered to be measured right here (in the front of the freaking store where every tom, dick, and harry can see how large these puppies are) or in the back where the dressing rooms were. DUH! i headed to the back of the store. a girl in the back told me to hold my arms out and she put her little measuring tape around these bad boys. she nicely looked at me and said. i am going to get you to try on a few of these bras... they are THIRTY-TWO A'S! do they come any smaller than that folks? she asked if i would prefer trying on the ones with some padding and lift. well, of course i would. i need all the help i can get obviously! she had some really cute ones that fit that description. well, i put it on, opened the door and whalah- the cups were too big. there was AIR between my tits and the bra. she then let me know that i would not be able to wear "those types" of bras. i guess when your boobs are this small, you aren't allowed the privilege of purchasing the allusion of more cleavage... heck any cleavage. so i was able to try on the ipex with no underwire, which luckily fit, and was comfortable. she asked which of the 27 colors they had would i prefer. i chose white (since i am boring and it will go with anything). they had ONE white bra and wouldn't you know that the right tit had been creased by the drawer. so i opted for the whisper pink, along with my free whisper pink panties. the bra was $42. that should be outlawed. a bra that really isn't even needed for tits this size should not cost THAT MUCH! at least i was able to use my $10 bday coupon and take $10 more off with my "free panty" coupon. i know it was supposed to be for the secret embrace bra, but folks the secret embrace bra is the one with the padding and i guess she felt sorry for me since my boobs are too small for those and so she let me use it on a bra that actually fit. i was happy with getting $20 off my bra. my mom swiped her card and we were out the door... with my tiny bra.

5th grade

ok. how many of you have started watching that new show, "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" i think it is hilarious. where do they find some of these contestants? like the first guy. a ucla law school graduate, that couldn't get ONE question right. the concept of the game is great. the wording of a few questions may make you second guess yourself, but for the most part, they are easy as pie to answer. i guess once you get into the business world you forget certain things. like what REM stands for or which boat the pilgrims came to america on. i think it would be great to put a teacher on there. surely they could get all of the questions right and score an easy one million dollars which, lets face it, is 25 times the yearly salary of a teacher. i know uncle sam would have to take his part, but that would pretty much be enough for a teacher to retire on! i guess if you were a teacher though, they would either, a. not allow you on the show, or b. you would have to go on under an alias like lawyer, brain surgeon, or some other high paid profession. if you have not watched the show yet, i recommend you put your brain to work one night to see how smart you are or at least how much you remember from grade school because let's think about it... everyone should know that polar bears do not eat penguins!

ready to hunt eggs...

i have a little girl. i am very thrilled with this because it gives me reason to sew. not that you can't sew cute little outfits for boys, but let's face it... after a year, if you put your boy in a smocked outfit, folks may think he is not straight... or his parents are not right in the head. lucky for me, i have a girl. i love to sew and smock (smocking is what i took up about a year ago when i decided buying them at the store was outrageously overpriced!) anyways, in the past week or so, i have managed to complete my little girls easter attire for both the sunday service and the fun little egg hunt. i can't wait to see her walk to find the eggs this year (rather than being sat beside a random egg for a photo opp like last year). i made both of her little outfits last year and i just finished this years. i know you all would love to see what miss thang will be donning for her big weekend that is about a month away. here they are:

i realize the glare is a bit bad, but it is purple and white checks with white appliqued rabbits (first time i have ever appliqued anything and i hand made the appliques... i am proud of myself!) this outfit is called a vintage baby bubble suit.... if you flip up the little front shirt part up, you will see how it buttons up in the front like the old timey outfits did. i love it. i have made several of these (since the pattern is 6 months- 24 months and i bought it last year!)

i still have to complete the matching bonnet for the dress, but what do you think?! oooh and we bought her little white patton leather shoes the other day and she picked out a white purse to carry. she is so girly. i can't wait for her to want to wear the white gloves for easter too one year!

69 questions... thanks blue

Start Time: 13:52
1. Are your parents married or divorced? married... going on 33 years now
2. Are you a vegetarian? heavens no, i love the cow, the pig, and the chicken
3. Do you believe in Heaven? of course. and i believe in hell and i will not be burning when i take my last breath on earth
4. Have you ever come close to dying? fortunately, no
5. What jewelry do you wear 24/7? only my wedding rings
6. Favorite time of day? when zoe wakes up (unless that happens to be the middle of the night)
7. Do you eat the stems of broccoli? nope. i cut them off. i only like the leaves, not the trunks of those little trees.
8. Do you wear makeup? yep- and i sell mary kay on the side if anyone needs some
9. Ever have plastic surgery? nope
10. If you did have plastic surgery, what did you have done? i guess i could use some boobs too... i definatley dont have any now... after zoe
11. What do you wear to bed? depends on the season- right now it is flannel time
12. Have you ever done anything illegal? not that i can think of
13. Can you roll your tongue? like a swiss cake roll, no, but to say the r's in spanish- yes
14. Do you tweeze your eyebrows? in between waxes
15. What kind of sneakers do you wear? i havea pair of nikes
16. Do you believe in abortions? i'll keep that to myself. don't want to start a controversy
17. What is your hair color? brown
18. Future child’s name? current child- zoe, future child may never happen. we will see....
19. Do you snore? nope
20. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? why not a trip around the world.... so i can just see it all
21. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? nope- just my hubby and pug
22. If you won the lottery, what would you do first? change my phone number, then contact a financial planner
23. Gold or silver? silver
24. Hamburger or hot dog? hamburger... i don't like the pig leftovers
25. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? stuffed strawberries
26. City, beach or country? country
27. What was the last thing you touched?the keyboard
28. Where did you last eat? a strawberry shortcake ice cream bar at the computer desk
29. When’s the last time you cried? today at moms when she told a sweet story about your childs life
30. Do you read blogs? yes
31. Would you ever go out dressed as the opposite sex? i did in college for a sorority fundraiser
32. Ever been involved with the police? only for a ticket in gallatin tn- where they had a speed trap set up!
33. What’s your favorite shampoo, conditioner and soap? herbal essence for hair, suave body wash
34. Do you talk in your sleep? nope
35. Ocean or pool? pool- i dont care for the salt water
36. Sauna or whirlpool? whirlpool
37. Starbucks or Krispy Kreme? krispy kreme HOT! i only like the carmel apple cider at starbucks
38. Aisle or window seat? window
39. Ever met anyone famous? i was in david copperfields show in vegas once, and i met dennis leary and steve buccimi (sp) in new york
40. Do you feel you’ve had a truly successful life? i dont think life is over yet to know
41. Do you twirl or cut your spaghetti? twirl
42. Rikki Lake or Oprah? oprah
43. Basketball or Football? neither
44. How long do your showers last? 7-10 minutes with my mini audience
45. Do you drive automatic or stick? automatic, but i can drive a stick- not well
46. Cake or ice cream? ice cream cake
47. Are you self-conscious? sometimes
48. Have you ever drank so much you threw up? yep- mai tais in hawaii on our honeymoon
49. Have you ever given money to a beggar? i try to ignore them
50. Have you ever been in love? still am
51. Where do you wish you were? somewhere warmer
52. Are you wearing socks? yes
53. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? ridden no, been in one, yes
54. Can you tango? yes- my husband used to teach ballroom dancing
55. Last gift you received? a homemade valentines card from zoe
56. Last sport you played? is wii bowling a sport?
57. Things you spend a lot of money on? gas and groceries i guess
58. Where do you live? walking distance from shelby farms
59. Where were you born? memphis, tn
60. Last wedding attended? sorority sisters at the gordon lee mansion in georgia
61. Favorite position? position, lol um, I guess a comfortable one (ditto angel)
62. Most hated food(s)? meatloaf ? asian- although i am coming around to sushi
63. Most hated soda pop? i dont care for most of them (i only like code red, mtn. dew, and root beer)
64. Can you sing? i have been told i can- but i dont like to in front of people... it makes me nervous!
65. Last person you instant messaged? liz
66. Last place you went on holiday? nashville to visit my college roomie... does that count?
68. Favorite alcoholic drink? something fruity or wine
69. Current favorite song? we currently listen to the "100 bible songs" in the car
TIME FINISHED: 1415
Now it’s time to tag 3 friends. Here we go:
liz
casey
sillyhily
sorry girls... i didnt know who else to put!

fat tuesday...

well, i had a brilliant idea yesterday. i thought since today was going to be fat tuesday i would make homemade gumbo and a king cake for a fabulous feast for my husband and mom. (my dad is currently out of town on business and mom is alone). ok, for those of you who have never made either of these or both (particularly on the same day) you have no idea what i have gotten myself into. let me start by saying, this is the FIRST time (1:50pm) that i have sat down since 9:45 am this morning when i began this adventure. i have made bread before and knew it would take time for the yeast to rise, etc. but i have NEVER made gumbo. the roux alone almost set me over the edge. i had to constantly stir for about 45 minutes this flour mix until it turned a deep brown. i am sure my muscles will let me know how stupid i was after tomorrow. anyways, the gumbo is now simmering and the king cake is done. luckily zoe napped from 10:30 until 12:30 today which was during the main time of cooking all of the meats separately, dicing the okra, onions, and celery to saute, etc. needless to say, i will only do this again on a very special occasion or for a healthy paycheck. some of you are probably asking why i did not just buy a king cake at kroger for $4.99 in the bakery. i guess i wanted to put the little plastic baby in myself, and i wanted a fresh cake- not some stale one that no one bought from last weekend. i hope it is as yummy as it looks. here is a pic of today's crazy adventure. i know you guys are all jealous. well- happy fat tuesday and for those of you who get ashes, don't forget to do that tomorrow.

what the heck...i'll try to add a photo

well- i thought i would try to entertain you gals today with a few fabulous pics of my little girl... this is why there is never a dull moment in our house. i have never tried to upload photos before so lets keep our fingers crossed that i can figure it out before it drives me to drink. remember the snow day we had last week. well... two years running now and she obviously does not enjoy the snow. maybe one day she will change her mind- like when she gets a day off from school to stay home, sleep in, and make snow ice cream.

yeah... see two years running... same expression. ok, so i decided not to torture her. we came inside and for the first time. i gave her crayons. she has so much fun writing with a pen, why not give her an age appropriate writing utensil. so i got a sheet of computer paper and a box of crayons. she sat at her little table for 45 minutes working on this masterpiece. she did not get up, she did not color off of the paper, she sat content drawing her first true work of art. my mom swears that you can read, "i love my nana" in the middle of it, but i still can not see that one.

i know what you are thinking... that is the sweetest smile you have ever seen, i know, i agree! well, if that wasn't entertaining enough for the day, i let her eat that new disney yogurt alone. you know the type.... cotton candy and cherry, watermelon and strawberry, whatever the flavors are, they are bright colors, sound very disgusting, but she loves them. anyways, me feeding her is ok, but her feeding herself, spells an afternoon of fun followed by a mid day bath. see for yourself.

now, that has to be a face that only a mother could love, because heaven help us if she got that mess on daddy and his work clothes! well, as much fun as this has been, and virtually painless uploading photos...i will leave you with one last photo, because i must go finish the laundry before someone wakes from her nap... otherwise i will get help. she is a great helper too. i fold it and she kindly unfolds it, takes it out of the basket, climbs in the basket to be pushed around like she is racing nascar, or she does this....

let's dump it all out!

well, today i have a few cute little stories i have been saving up to compile into one blog. the following is a list of things the sweet little toddler has been doing this week.
1. every morning when i take my shower, i find anything in the bathroom to keep her occupied. i have learned that if i do not, i either get a peeping tom watch me throughout the whole process with splashes of water in her face not stopping her, or i get a gentle reminder (ie- scream) to let me know that she is unentertained at the moment. so, even though we have child locks on all of the cabinets and drawers, sometimes it works to my advantage to open a drawer for her playing entertainment, because lord knows that the den full of toys is simply not enough. well, recently i have opted for drawer number two, which i forgot had so many little bags of items organized (you know, hair rubber bands, barrettes, mini set of satin hands, and the infamous q-tips). she has now figured out how to open each bag and sporadically place each item from each bag all over the floor of our bathroom. it is like a maze walking out of the shower, but worth the 10 minutes it takes me to reorganize the drawer on a daily basis.
2. if you think this is the only thing she dumps, let me reassure you it is not. exhibit number two. one of my high school buds generously buys her a gift for every little holiday. well, for christmas he came to my parents bearing a grocery cart loaded with groceries and picnic supplies for both my daughter and my niece... awww how sweet. a single guy that thinks of others at the holidays. thanks a whole heck of a lot! she has now figured out how to load the grocery cart with all sorts of items (not to mention that she has to have the baby placed just right in the front seat of the buggy) and then she proceeds to tump over the cart. she thinks it is hilarious to watch all 973 items go flying across the den, under the couches, etc. we are currently working on putting them back into the buggy after they have been taken out. it is obviously not nearly as fun.
3. did i mention she also likes to take out all of her bibs from the back of the highchair and walk around leaving a trail as she tries to velcro them to her own neck?
4. last story of the day. wednesday, we were getting ready to run a few errands. miss girly girl enjoys finding my hand lotion in my purse and rubbing it on her hands (she also does it with purell). i think it is precious, but realize i will one day have my work cut out as she thinks makeup and smelly lotions are the key life. anyways, the other day she got the lotion and rubbed it in her hands and then decided she needed more... which was fine. this time though, she rubbed it a minute before deciding to rub it through her hair as to spike it up. she was pretending it was hair gel. i thought for a moment, why would she do that, mommy never uses hair gel, but ahhh wait, daddy. daddy uses hair gel to spike his hair. i had to call him to let him know what a great influence he was to her. we still ran our errands, my kid just had a bad hair day that day.
everyday is an adventure here!

is she a puppy?

now that our little girl walks, i think it is the cutest thing in the world to undress her in the morning and send her running into the bathroom with that naked little toosh to the tub that is filling with water. she absolutely loves bath time. she splishes and splashes and plays with all of her toys and just absolutely enjoys herself. it is adorable. well, back to her running in there with her cute naked toosh. it takes me a second after she begins running to throw away the dirty diaper and put her pj's in the hamper. by the time i make it into the bathroom, she is standing wide-eyed at the tub looking at the water and trying to hoist her tiny leg over the side of the tub. however, like a little puppy training to pee outside, she too stands at the edge of the tub and pees just a bit before getting into the water. luckily, the bathroom is not carpeted, so it is very easy to clean. since she is not potty trained yet (i know shame on us, she is 15 months and still in a diaper- just kidding), i of course don't mind that she has an accident tub side. and i am thankful that she does it tub side so i know i am not bathing her in pee water. could you imagine thinking your kid is clean and really you just washed her hair with pee water... gross. so i guess prior to bath time, the saying is true, "it just tickles the pee out of her!"

lump, bump, lymph...

well this past week had me a bit scared. i recently found a lump under my armpit by my breast. i was scared to say the least. of course, i immediately thought i was going to die and not get to see our little girl grow up... which is probably the worst feeling in the world. i called my gyno and made an appointment immediately. they took me the next day... at the earliest appointment time... (that means 30 minutes before the doctor ever arrives). i LOVE my gyno office. they are THE BEST! when i got there, the nurse (who was with me the day we lost zain- a whole different blog topic), took me back to do an ultrasound (shhh dont tell the dr... so you dont have to pay for it). within 2 minutes, she had the wand on my bump, and my mind eased as she said, "girl, take a valium, that is an infected lymph node, your body is covered with lymph nodes and it will go away... you are not going to die!" wooooohooooo.... thank the LORD! we went to the exam room to wait for the dr. to finally arrive (he makes hospital visits first of course). he felt around on my itty bitty titties as well and said the same thing... and that, " if you weighed 50 more pounds you would have never found that little bump." my mom was ever so nice to tell me that the only reason i found it was because it was bigger than what my boobs have shrunk down to be after a year of nursing a healthy little girl. yes girls, i am just about back into a training bra. anyways, with calmed nerves and the promise of another day here on earth with my family, i said my goodbyes and drove home, calling my prayer warriors and thanking them for sending up some much needed prayers of health to GOD. for those of you who dont know what an infected lymph node feels like, it is like a raisin (or at least mine was)... it moves around a little bit, not totally hard, etc. if you find one that feels like this, dont freak out like me, but do call your dr. to get a peace of mind.

don't leave meeeeeee

ok- if our little girl could actually speak in sentences, she would have said that this morning. instead i go the cry that makes no sound at all bc she just that ticked off. mothers, you know the cry... mouth open, tears falling, no sound, trying to catch their breath cry. today started my third semester at MOMS. i look so forward to thursdays. i am reminded that i have a huge, gigantic, supernatural power in my corner as i listen to the message flow from jean's lips. i am a momma. one of jean's sweet little momma's, and she reminds us weekly how we can not do it alone. (side not- anyone that would like to attend, please let me know. it is AWESOME and you will feel like you can accomplish anything when you leave- except mopping the kitchen floor. who needs to do that when there are dolls to love on and cars to push with your little one!) every thursday we trod up to bellevue to engulf her wisdom. the first pitstop, of course, is the nursery. ok, for those of you who don't know, i stay at home. when she wakes, i am here, when she naps, i am here, when she plays, i am here, when she eats, i am here, when she drifts off to dreamland for the night, i am here. no mothers day out, daycare, etc. so i admit someone is a little spoiled to their momma. i don't mind it one bit either as much as we prayed for this child! however, when i take her to the nursery, i have to do it with a quickness. as soon as i get ready to lift her up and over the door, she starts wailing like i am leaving her with the meanest, ugliest person God ever created. usually, it is a sweet little lady... but nonetheless, the wailing begins. today was like all others, but it seems the first time back after a break only makes it harder on her. i gave them her bag (complete with snacks), told them she got 4 shots yesterday and was still cutting molars, sorry, i'm off to hear jean. as i was walking out, other moms were coming into the drop off area and wondering what child could be making such a ruckus... i just smiled and kept walking, trying not to think that it was my little 17 pounder screaming like a ravished lion. ugh! it breaks my heart to know she is so upset when i leave, luckily she is all smiles when i come back. i know this will get better with time. she doesn't do it when i leave her with family members (like nana). if it weren't for the spiritual satisfaction i leave with, i don't think i could do it to her every thursday. so, anyone else have a little one that does this and how long does it last. i am just envisioning dropping her off her freshman year of high school and her running after the car for me. please tell me it gets better... before she gets married!

3 months... 10 ounces

well, today was the big 15 month check up for the little one. wow- 15 months... let me grasp that one first. didn't i just have her last week? anyways, after briefly saying hello to sily hily and her kids in the waiting room, we were called back to go through the routine. take all of her clothes off, put on a clean diaper, etc. i of course left her socks on bc it is colder than a witches titty outside today... and i didn't want to make her THAT uncomfortable. there's a new nurse today. i ask where the old one is... "she had her baby." WHAT?! was she even pregnant... guess i missed her bump a few months ago and hello next thing i know she's a mommy. ok- i guess i am not so quick on noticing these things. they measure her... 28 inches. ~i know you are all getting out your percentile charts to see where a 15 month old girl at 28 inches ranks.~ ok, let's take her to the weigh thingy and see how much she hates sitting in that cold chair in nothing but her size 2 diaper and cute pair of socks. 17 pounds and 8 ounces. WHAT? did you work that thing correctly? i mean i know you are new here, but are you telling me she only gained 10 ounces in three months. my kids, the one who eats everything in sight?...including the blazin' buffalo and ranch doritos! now, that you all have your charts out, you can pinpoint that my child has STILL not hit the charts in height or weight. so the pediatrician comes in. "e-llo, boot-i-ful baa-be. let me give kisses. oooh-no like strangers?" (she is from brazil and has a strong accent, but we LOVE her!) anyways, she says she is proportionate.... to what? a grasshopper. she is not concerned with her size (although my mom would beg to differ... even though she has seen the kid scarf down some food). well- if she isn't concerned, neither am i. my degree is in education, not pediatrics, so what do i know. moving right along, "today she will get four shots." WHAT? do you guys have fun torturing these small babies? FOUR! i realize i had gestational diabetes and had to prick my finger 4 times a day, but sheez louise! four shots in 1 minute. cut the kid some slack... hell no i don't want to give her the flu shot to make it FIVE! she's already going to look at me like i am some sort of demon raised from the pits of hell holding her little arms and legs down! from here, mothers, you know the drill.... "SCREAM, WAIL, WAHHHHHHH, SCREAM, BWAHHHHHAAAAHHAAAA!" all the way to the car, fasten her in, try not to touch the bandaids, that clearly DO. NOT. HELP! and give her the sticker... what in the crap is a 15 month old to do with a sticker, or the sucker for that matter while i am driving!?! we get home, she crams in some chicken nuggets, sliced pears, water, and motrin (since i gave the tylenol before we went and i don't want to OD the poor kid)... and it's off to lullaby land. good thing she gets a 3 month break before they come racing at her with needles again. any bets on how much she will weigh at 18 months. the pediatrician seems to think that her weight will start to table for a while since they supposedly go through a "no" period including, "no eating." we shall see. oh, and for the record, day 10, 5 teeth and counting.

one at a time... not a chance!

well- i regret not starting this blog sooner. you guys have missed out on so much ~in a day of the life of zoe~. well- let me catch you up to speed. at 11 months (september- labor day weekend to be exact), zoe decided to cut her first tooth. she ran her first fever (luckily, for only one day), she didn't really get runny poop, but she did get fussy. one night, i held her for one solid hour while she screamed the, "i'm in pain!" scream. it was not until the next morning that my mom informed me that, "you should have rubbed jack daniels on her gums... that's what i did with you." thanks mom- i'm lucky to not be an alcoholic now because of that... plus the information would have helped last night. within two weeks, this child had her first teeth. yes, i meant to write tEEth. how many did she get to be exact... oh EIGHT. yes, my friends, zoe popped eight little pearly whites through within two weeks. all four front top and bottom teeth. let me just tell you now... i would rather have had my vagina sewn up again, then to deal with the fussiness of a baby that teeth bring about. lucky for me, she waited until she was 11 months old. i breastfed her until her first birthday and luckily only almost had my nipple ripped off by those cute little teeth twice. adds a whole new meaning to the word-pain! since september, little miss teeth has not had anymore pop through.... until sunday. yes, folks, sunday began the countdown for this round of teeth. as of yesterday we have THREE new teeth... two of which are molars. for those of you who don't know, molars mean bigger areas of swollen gums, bigger areas for sharp white objects to have to protrude through, and longer periods of indecisive whining girl time...yes, friends, that is what a molar means. this is only day 5 so i will have to update you in 9 more days how many she gets this time. my hopes are for all of her teeth up until the 2 year molars. can anyone say, "this mommy needs a margarita!"?

well, it's about time...

ok ok ok. i admit it. i have been keeping up with your lives secretly for the past several months (since lucky got pregnant to be exact) through a link she gave me. i have enjoyed reading your stories (especially about your children) and relating to how they coincide with zoe. i actually have mentioned a time or two that i would start a blog in the new year (as a resolution)... well- here i am...let the journey begin. i have been thinking of what to blog about first and then it hit me, as it does weekly when i am out and about in public with society's random idiots...

~she came from my uterus!~
some of you may know that my husband is not caucasian. he is philipino. 2 years ago, we hopped into bed and we FINALLY were given the miracle of a baby. after nine months of baking her in my caucasian belly, i birthed one of the most beautiful "wilipinos" ever seen this side of the mississippi. everyone oohed and ahhed and we brought her home. for the past year, i have been going out in public with her, as most parents do with their children, to buy groceries, neccesities, or just stroll at the mall. what i am about to tell you NEVER happens when my husband is with me... only when i am alone with zoe. it never fails that on a WEEKLY basis(i mark a calendar- not really) someone will inevitably stop me and ask, "where did you adopt her from?" or my favorite, "we're going to china next week to get ours too!" HELLO people- number one- she does NOT look chinese! number two- just because i don't sport an island tan in the winter, and she does, don't assume it isn't possible that i could have had her. now as a disclaimer- i am not against adoption AT ALL, i think it is great!... my husband was adopted- if he had not been, we would have never met and zoe would not be part of my life. anyways, i usually give the calm response to these lovely people that, "my husband is philipino." usually, they get the picture. one day, a lady replied to that with, "people of that race usually are pretty small huh." (zoe hasn't hit the chart yet in weight, and barely makes the height for her age) i had to ask her, "what race would that be?" and she replied, "you know, non american..." hello- my husband did pass his citizenship test and i am a born and raised memphian- how is my daughter "non-american"??? whatever lady, turn around and buy your ky jelly and oscar mayer weiners. well, one day, i had had enough of the "adoption" questions. i was buying fabric at the lace cottage and a lady asked me, "where did you get her?" i calmly turned around and responded, "from my uterus." she stood in shock for a moment, swallowed hard, bought her fabric and promptly left the store. i think that i should make t-shirts with that slogan and wear them around in public. some people just never know when to stop, smile, and just say, "aww, isn't she cute!" no questions asked!